Dani intentionally spills her wine to create a diversion. She and Levi go to the restroom to clean up, and he begins removing his shirt. Dani tries not to look. Levi knows about Gabe’s threat to tell about a “kissing incident,” and he wants to know the story. Dani refuses to tell him. They’re close enough to kiss, and Dani struggles to maintain her composure.

Levi asks whether anything is going on between her and Ethan. Dani says no and that Ethan only asked her out once, before he was her advisor. Levi is livid, believing that the situation is inappropriate and that Ethan is taking advantage of her. He wants Dani to find a new advisor. Dani defends herself, saying that she doesn’t need Levi to be her “brother.” She can see that her words have wounded him. He backs off and asks her to let him take her home after her meetings with Ethan.

In high school, when Dani and Levi argued, she would write him a letter to express her feelings. The first time she tried it was after another boy said unkind things about her, and she was so upset that she ghosted Levi at a party she was supposed to attend. When she tells Gabe about their most recent argument, Gabe suggests that she write an apology letter. Levi calls her after receiving the letter. He apologizes for “overstepping,” and they agree to once again be “best friends.”

Dani meets with Ethan in his office, where he tells her that the most recent draft of her essay for Lazaro lacks “emotion” and sounds “immature.” He wants her to try again, aiming more for “aspirational and decisive” (141). After she leaves, Dani begins to cry.

Ethan finds her crying and apologizes. He invites her to his place to work on the essay. Just as Dani is feeling drawn to Ethan’s charm, Levi arrives to walk her to the train. He identifies himself as Dani’s “boyfriend” and grasps her affectionately, walking her away from Ethan.

Dani has finished the alterations on Levi’s wedding suit and refuses to take payment. She enjoys their playful banter and reflects on how the fake-dating scheme has rekindled their friendship, which she has missed. Levi reminds her of the ball, and despite still having nothing to wear, Dani says that she still plans to come.

After unsuccessfully finding anything in her closet to wear to the ball, Jia and Gabe insist that she ask to borrow something from her mother. Dani’s mother grants her request and gives her an envelope containing her acceptance letter to École Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode (ESMOD, or Higher School of the Arts and Techniques of Fashion) in Paris. Dani is happy but reminds her mother that Lazaro remains her first choice. Her mother encourages her to be open to change.

Gabe and Jia select a dark blue, backless, curvy dress for Dani. She arrives at the ball and meets Levi on the staircase. They exchange a wordless look, and she knows that he’s taken aback by how she looks. Another man asks to buy her a drink, but Levi swoops in and ushers her away for a dance. Dani’s classmate Sandra interrupts, asking about Dani’s graduate-school applications. Dani doesn’t tell her about Paris since they’re trying to sell the idea that Levi is in a committed relationship, a story that’s less believable if she’s moving to France. Dani sees Levi talking to another woman and is jealous. Just then, Ethan appears.

Ethan congratulates Dani on her acceptances to ESMOD, and just as his charm lures her in again, Levi appears. Dani interprets Levi’s protectiveness as jealousy, and as they walk away from Ethan, she accuses him of leaving her to talk to another woman.

Bella arrives, and Dani pulls Levi onto the dance floor to give Bella a show. Levi apologizes and explains that the woman he was speaking with is a student in a class for which he’s a teaching assistant. He was telling the student about Dani. Their dancing becomes increasingly intimate, and Dani can’t help her feelings. She wonders if Levi feels the same. He tells her that she’s “beautiful” and “enthralling,” but Dani thinks it’s part of the performance. Levi insists that he means it. Dani excuses herself to get “some air.”

In a panic, Dani decides to leave, but Levi catches her just before she gets into a car. Dani wants to tell him that she loves him, but instead, through tears, she says that she’s never felt beautiful. Levi says that she is beautiful and that he’s “infatuated” with her. He kisses her passionately, and Dani is overcome with her love for him.

Another student, Sandra, interrupts them just as Dani musters the courage to tell him the truth. Sandra congratulates her on her ESMOD acceptance, and Dani explains that she hasn’t decided if she’s attending yet. Dani sees Bella from afar and knows that she’s seen everything. She quickly says goodbye to Levi and leaves.

Dani has a flashback to prom night. She was drunk, and Jeremiah, her date, left her and took her phone. Levi tried to help her, and in her mind, she thought she confessed her love for Levi. However, she now realizes that she actually said, “I love him” (180), making it sound as though she loved Jeremiah. She refused to let Levi take her home or help in any way, and he walked away hurt and angry. Later, as she waited for her mother to come pick her up, she saw Levi’s date, Cora, kissing him. Embarrassed and brokenhearted and interpreting it as a rejection, Dani vowed to cut off all contact with Levi.

In the present, Dani returns home, and Gabe and Jia are waiting for her. Dani cries, feeling foolish for almost telling Levi she loves him when she knows he doesn’t return the feelings. Gabe argues that she can’t be sure. Dani feels frustrated with being in her twenties yet still stuck in high-school drama.

Later, Dani channels her grief into completing her Lazaro application. She writes vulnerably about her failures and “about every instance in which [she] experienced loss, and how [she] came back from it” (187). Without first passing it to Ethan, she submits the application.